Download Service Just Might Replace DVDs…eventually

Hey everybody, this’ll kill you.  Apparently, all this time, you’ve been reading a media expert!

See, I was reading this article about a new kind of download service that’s being started over in Australia, possibly as a way to replace the DVD.  And of course, every time I see that phrase I snort derisively (the last time I did that I learned never to read media articles while drinking milkshakes) and launch into my standard schtick about how it’s NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN until a whole bunch of problems are fixed.

I get midway down the article and, sure enough, I SEE THIS:

But media experts warn there will be plenty of hurdles to overcome before movie downloads become a part of everyday life, including internet download speeds, unrealistic download caps, data costs and the price of movies.

That’s almost exactly my schtick.  In order, almost.

So then I read on about how Microsoft thinks it’s got the first two of those beat by offering a kind of streaming technology that tailors its content to your bandwidth capability, starting out with a really light stream and working its way up.

The problem with this, of course, is that even its minimum is still out of reach for a lot of people.  You have to have a three meg connection in order to watch in 720p.  Satellite and most wireless internet service providers generally offer a top speed of about one and a half.

So it’s still got a way to go yet before it can kill DVD.